Fish Food

How to Recruit New Talent Like a Pro

What you may be doing wrong and better stop before you recruit the wrong talent.

Mishandling of the recruiting process can be costly. The U.S. Department of Labor estimates that a bad hire cost a minimum of 30 percent of the salary of that position. Pile on a heaping helping of stress-loaded office-disruption on top of that and the importance of mindful hiring becomes strikingly clear.

Mastering the art of recruiting

Nobody wants to make a bad hiring decision. The goal of a recruiter is to align wants with needs. With that in mind, if your recruiting partner could offer four bits of humble, albeit expert, advice, it’d probably be something like…

Track record is huge. Unless the position is entry level, or you’re willing to train, limit your scope to those who’ve done the job in the past. A candidate who’s already performed in a similar environment will require less acclimation and be more likely to become a long-term member of your team.

Don’t neglect your current staff. Whenever appropriate, try to notify your current staff of a potential opening before posting externally. Promotions can be a win-win – they do wonders for morale and require significantly less (if any) onboarding.

Your reputation matters. When top talent comes to you, recruiting is almost easy. Employee retention, recognition, and work/life balance are factors highly recruited talent seek out. Furthermore, how you treat candidates during the recruiting and hiring process, and current employees, can smash back into you via online reviews and job board profiles.

Stay on the hunt. Savvy recruiters always have their eyes open for top talent. Your HR department should nurture relationships with local universities, and monitor professional websites such as LinkedIn, or industry related forums. The more prepared you are, the faster you’ll be able to fill the position.

5 things you should know about interviewing

From gauging their personality to getting a feel for their aptitude, interviewing is packed with objectives. Of course, recruiters have a few suggestions for the interview process as well:

Prepare! Come up with a short list of questions you can ask the candidate that will reveal how much, or how little, they know about their vocation. Furthermore, don’t neglect their resume, portfolio, demo reel, website, etc. The interview isn’t the time to be taking a first look at their background, and especially not their work samples – those things should be what got them to the interview.

Ask for examples. Some interviewers like to ask about a challenge they had to overcome, for others, it might be helpful to ask about an event that illustrates how they perform their job duties.

Let them know what to expect. Interviews come in a variety of methods. Some involve tours and interviewing with several departments, others are simple 1-hour meetings. Establishing an outline of events keeps you focused and lets the candidate better prepare.

You’re being interviewed too. While it’s not typically thought of from this angle, an interview is a 50/50 situation. You’re just as much of a job candidate, as they are a candidate for employment. If you’re late, rude, unorganized, it’ll be perceived as a direct reflection of your company culture.

Let them talk. You know your company, the position, and who you’re looking for, by the time you bring a prospect in for an interview, they should too. Ask questions, stay attentive, and be a good listener, that way when they walk out, you’ve collected more information, than you’ve dished out.

If you’ve just started on the path to recruiting success, we can help you achieve your IT recruiting goal. At Consultis Information Technology, we’ve been delivering first-class project solution, technical search, and contract services since 1984. You can contact us anytime and let us know how we can help you with your IT staffing needs.